Brave New World (of Debt) | Life of Debt Episode 1
17 trillion is usually a number reserved for distances in outer space, water in the ocean, or sand in the desert. But it’s also how much this next generation is in the hole for as they become adults. Thanks to our parents and the officials they’ve elected, America is $17 trillion in debt. Despite the way the federal government has dealt with this issue, debt is not theoretical. It’s real, it’s owed, and can take on a life of its own. Watch debt (and its sidekick debt collectors) interrupt birth, love, sleep, and more. This is “Life of Debt.”
Don’t forget about:
Episode 2
Episode 3
1) What If the National Debt Were Your Debt? (video): A classic Learn Liberty video with Antony Davies
2) Funding Government By the Minute (video): What does our country’s debt look like, day by day?
3) US Debt Clock (webpage): Watch the government do wrong by future generations live
4) Debt Can’t Burden Future Generations? (article): Robert Murphy’s quick summary on why government debt is a serious, serious problem
Peter Jaworski: “What would you do if you didn’t have to worry about debt? I’m Peter Jaworski. I teach business ethics here, at Georgetown University. Finances begin and end with this one thing.”
“Push! C’mon, c’mon! Push! You’re almost there. Push, push ‘im out of there! Push him out of there! Push! Push!”
“Congratulations! So cute! What’s his name?”
“I was thinking maybe of naming him Jeremiah.”
“Well, hello there, little Jeremiah! Welcome to the world! This is Doug from the IRS.”
“What?”
“I’m sorry. The Internal Revenue Service. To celebrate your arrival, the politicians your parents have voted for have given you the gift of debt!”
“Will you give me my baby back?”
“Okay, but can I take fingerprints?”
“Now!”
“Okay.”
Peter Jaworski: “That, that right there is government debt. Thanks to your parents’ and grandparents’ generation, millennials are on the hook for a government debt that’s nearly seventeen trillion dollars. Seventeen tri —”
“Who are you talking to?”
[Baby crying]
Peter Jaworski: “That’s more than fifty-four thousand dollars for every man, woman, and yeah, you, too, little baby Jeremiah.”
“It’s getting a little grabby in here. You’re growing up so fast, Jeremiah! You can’t procrastinate this debt! … Okay, okay!”
“Jer, who the hell are all these people in your car?”
[Crying]
“One last chance.”
Peter Jaworski: “Jeremiah, and millennials like him, were born into more debt than any other generation. They owe seventeen trillion dollars thanks to these guys. And that’s true despite the fact that they never were even old enough to vote. Is that fair?”